Push to scrap Melbourne’s controversial 5km travel limit
Melbourne’s controversial 5km travel limit could be axed immediately under a push by the opposition to scrap the measure, with Premier Daniel Andrews accused of “making it up”. But getting the amendment over the line will be a challenge.
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A push is on to remove Melbourne’s controversial 5km zone with the state opposition planning to introduce an amendment in the Victorian upper house to axe the rule immediately.
Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council, David Davis, has announced an amendment will be introduced on Tuesday to dump the travel restriction.
It comes as the parliament begins debate on the state government’s Omnibus Bill and after Deputy Chief Health Officer Allen Cheng last month said the 5km zone had restricted movement, but admitted it was an arbitrary number.
MEASURE YOUR 5KM RADIUS
Mr Davis said the amendment was being put forward because the community had overwhelmingly indicated they were not supportive of the measure.
“This is a clear message to Daniel Andrews that the community are over the 5km rule,” he said.
“It’s not based on science. He made it up and it should go.”
The amendment will need 20 votes to pass the upper house, including support from nine crossbenchers to overrule the government.
Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton on Tuesday outlined the reasoning behind the 5km travel restrictions, saying it helped reduce interactions between individuals and households.
“You could choose different distances. As I’ve mentioned previously, Israel’s down to 100m from your home. Spain went to 150m for weeks and weeks on end,” he said.
“Five kilometres is a judgement about where people could reasonably go for exercise, where people could reasonably go for the permitted reasons without increasing too significantly the number of other people and households they come into contact with.
“When you double that radius, you’re multiplying by four times the number of households you can potentially come into contact with.
“It’s just trying to make a judgement about limiting interactions to an extent possible, but allowing people some opportunity to find a park, find a walking trail for the purpose of exercise.”
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